Student Achievement Backpack Act Exposed

The Student Achievement Backpack Act is listed under ALEC's Education Task Force and was approved by the ALEC Board of Directors on January 9, 2014. (Accessed on 11/30/2015).

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

This bill provides access by a student’s parent or guardian or an authorized local education agency (LEA) user to the learning profile of a student from kindergarten through grade 12 in an electronic format known as a Student Achievement Backpack.

Model Policy

Section 1. {Title}

(A) This Act shall be known as the “Student Achievement Backpack Act”

Section 2. {Definitions}

(A) As used in this act:

(1) “Authorized LEA user” means a teacher or other person who is:

(a) employed by an LEA that provides instruction to a student; and

(b) authorized to access data in a Student Achievement Backpack through the Student Record Store.

(2) “LEA” means:

(a) a school district organized and existing pursuant to law;

(b) a board of cooperative services or intermediate school district;

(c) a publicly funded agency established by the state for the express purpose of authorizing charter schools;

(d) a public charter school authorized pursuant to state statutes; or

(e) other local education agency in the State that has administrative control of public education.

(3) “Student Achievement Backpack” means, for a student from kindergarten through grade 12, a complete learner profile that:

(a) is in electronic format;

(b) follows the student from grade to grade and school to school;

(c) is accessible in its entirety by the student’s parent or guardian; and

(d) is accessible by an authorized LEA user upon parental authorization.

(4) “Student Record Store” means a repository of student data collected from LEAs as part of the state’s longitudinal data system that is:

(a) managed by the State Department of Education;

(b) cloud-based; and

(c) accessible via a web browser to authorized LEA users.

(5) “Department” means the State Department of Education

Section 3. {Student Achievement Backpack – Student Record Store}

(A)

(1) The Department shall use and maintain the robust, comprehensive data collection system maintained by the Department, which collects longitudinal student transcript data from LEAs and unique student identifiers to allow the following to securely access a student’s Student Achievement Backpack:

(a) the student’s parent or guardian;

(b) each LEA that provides instruction to the student; and

(c) each course provider that is currently providing instruction to the student and has been authorized by the student’s parent or guardian.

(d) each education service provider that is currently providing content or educational services to the student and has been authorized by the student’s parent or guardian.

(2) The Department shall ensure that a Student Achievement Backpack:

(a) provides a uniform, transparent reporting mechanism for individual student progress;

(b) provides a complete learner history for post-secondary planning;

(c) provides a teacher with visibility into a student’s complete learner profile to better inform instruction and personalize education;

(d) assists a teacher or administrator in diagnosing a student’s learning needs through the use of data already collected by the Department ;

(e) facilitates a student’s parent or guardian taking an active role in the student’s education by simplifying access to the student’s complete learner profile; and

(f) serves as additional disaster mitigation for LEAs by using a secure cloud-based data storage and collection system that complies with all state and national privacy laws.

(B) Using existing information collected and stored in the data warehouse maintained by the State Department of Education, the Department of Education shall create the Student Record Store where an authorized LEA user, upon parental authorization, may:

(1) access data in a Student Achievement Backpack relevant to the user’s LEA or school; or

(2) request student records to be transferred from one LEA to another.

(C) The Department shall implement security measures to ensure that:

(1) student data stored or transmitted to or from the Student Record Store is secure and confidential pursuant to the requirements of all state or federal privacy laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g; and

(2) an authorized LEA user may only access student data that is relevant to the user’s LEA or school.

(D) A student’s parent or guardian may request the student’s Student Achievement Backpack from the LEA or the school in which the student is enrolled. School districts must provide parents or guardians with an electronic copy of their child’s educational record upon request. The State Department of Education shall develop policies for school districts that:

(1) ensure student data is provided only to the authorized individuals;

(2) ensure that school districts have a plan to allow parents to securely view online, download, and transmit data specific to their child’s educational record.

(3) annually notify parents of their right to request their child’s student record;

(4) ensure student records are securely shared with parents;

(5) detail the time-frame within which student record requests must be provided; and

(6) the information provided in this section will be available via a secure online portal and via hard copy upon request.

(E) No later than June 30, [20XX], an authorized LEA user shall be able to securely access student data in a Student Achievement Backpack, which shall include, at a minimum, the following data, or request the data be transferred from one LEA to another:

(1) student demographics;

(2) course grades;

(3) course history; and

(4) results for any state-mandated assessments.

(F) No later than June 30, [20XX], an authorized LEA user shall be able to access student data in a Student Achievement Backpack, which shall include the data listed in Subsections (E)(1) through (4) and the following data, or request the data be transferred from one LEA to another:

(1) section attendance;

(2) the name of a student’s teacher for classes or courses the student takes;

(3) teacher qualifications for a student’s teacher, including years of experience, degree, license, and endorsement;

(4) results of formative, interim, and summative computer adaptive assessments;

(5) detailed data demonstrating a student’s mastery of core standards and objectives as measured by computer adaptive assessments ;

(6) a student’s writing sample written for an online writing assessment;

(7) a school’s grade {or equivalent, based on the state’s accountability system};

(8) results of benchmark assessments of reading;

(9) a student’s reading level at the end of grade 3;

(10) any teacher comments, recommendations, or notes applicable to an individual student, as determined useful for inclusion; and

(11) Nothing in this act shall require any state agency to collect new data fields or categories for a student than the data categories used in the 2012-13 school year.

(12) Federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Program eligibility.

(G) No non-academic centric data, including but not limited to the following shall be included in the Student Achievement Backpack. If a school district has any of the information provided in 1-9 below on file already, the LEA will make the parents aware of the information:

(1) students’ and/or their families’ religion or political party affiliation or voting history;

(2) psychometric data;

(3) biometric information;

(4) juvenile delinquency records;

(5) criminal records;

(6) medical, psychological, or dental information;

(7) social security numbers;

(8) employment history; and

(9) income level.

(H) Nothing in this Act shall require the collection, storage, or dissemination of any additional student information.

(I) No later than June 30, [20XX], the State Board of Education shall ensure that data collected in the Student Record Store for a Student Achievement Backpack shall be integrated into each LEA’s student information system and shall be made available to a student’s parent or guardian and an authorized LEA user in an easily accessible viewing format.

Section 4. {Severability clause}

Section 5. {Repealer clause}

Section 6. {Effective date}

Approved by the ALEC Board of Directors January 9, 2014.